HSMAI Certificate in Sales
$550
A course will be available from 12/08/2026
Leads to certification with duration:
1 year
Certificate

HSMAI Certificate in Sales

The HSMAI Certificate in Sales (Hospitality) equips hotel sales professionals with the practical skills to win business, grow accounts and sell with greater confidence. Participants will learn how to understand buyers, identify opportunities, present compelling solutions, negotiate effectively and build profitable customer relationships, supported by practical tools and AI prompts from the HSMAI Sales Coach. Developed by Hoteliers for Hoteliers, the programme uses real hotel examples, sales scenarios and workplace-ready activities that can be applied immediately.

Curriculum content

  •
    Build a strong foundation in modern hotel sales with this practical, industry-specific introductory course.  Learners explore how successful hotel salespeople build trusted customer relationships, communicate effectively and guide opportunities through the sales process. The course covers the buyer’s journey, sales pipelines, prospecting, professional presentations, negotiation and closing, as well as the fundamentals of market intelligence and data-informed decision-making. Learners will also discover how technology, AI, CRM systems and automation can improve sales productivity—while recognising where human judgement, ethical behaviour and personal relationships remain essential. Practical hotel examples, scenarios and workplace activities help learners apply each topic to their own role. This course may be taken independently or as a core course within the HSMAI Certificate in Sales (Hospitality). This course introduces the role of sales within a hotel’s broader commercial strategy and explores how hotel sales has evolved. Participants will learn about the hotel sales process, ethical selling, productivity tools, professional image and personal branding.  By the end of the course, participants will understand the fundamental skills, behaviours and processes required to succeed in a hotel sales role.

    • Lesson Introduction to Hotel Sales Course

  • Online training course for hospitality professionals focussing on how guests make their decisions on where to stay during their booking journey. Hoteliers need to learn how to influence consumers to book their hotels instead of other properties. To do this, you'll need an understanding of the customer journey — for holiday-makers, business people, and meeting planners.

  •  Create persuasive proposals and presentations that demonstrate value and inspire action.  This course teaches participants how to transform hotel information into compelling sales solutions. Rather than relying on generic presentations or long lists of features, participants will learn how to develop a clear sales narrative that connects the hotel’s offering to the buyer’s goals.  The course covers proposal development, storytelling, presentation structure, visual communication and virtual presentation techniques.

  • Most industries categorise their market into different segments to understand them better, and to customise their product to each segment. This is a fundamental way to increase revenue to your business. As a revenue analyst, you need to know what these segments are and how to use that knowledge to win business from your competitors.  You will learn: What segmentation is Why hotels segment their markets How to define each segment (e.g., corporate, events, wholesale, retail, etc.) The difference between a channel and a segment How to use segmentation to gain insights and improve bottom line results How consumer behaviours differ by channel The terms and strategies around using segments versus channels versus personalised offers

  • Negotiate confidently, respond to buyer concerns and move opportunities towards a successful close. This course provides a practical introduction to hotel sales negotiation. Participants will learn how to prepare for a negotiation, identify objectives, understand the stages of the negotiation process and protect the value of the hotel’s offering. The course also explores common buyer tactics and objections, providing practical techniques for responding without discounting unnecessarily or damaging the customer relationship.

  • In a competitive hotel market, salespeople need to understand more than their own property. They need to know what is influencing demand, which alternatives customers are considering, how competitors are positioning themselves and where their hotel can offer meaningful value. This course provides hotel sales professionals with a practical approach to understanding their market and competitive landscape. Participants will learn how to identify relevant competitors for different customer segments and booking occasions, gather intelligence ethically, interpret market trends and use verified evidence to strengthen their hotel’s competitive positioning. Throughout the course, participants will build a practical Market and Competitor Intelligence workbook for their own hotel. They will use it to create competitor profiles, monitor market signals, benchmark customer perception, develop a positioning statement, prepare a Sales Battle Card and respond professionally to competitor comparisons.  The course also explores how AI tools can support research, analysis and sales preparation—while reinforcing the importance of source verification, confidentiality and professional judgement. Whether you are developing your hotel-sales skills or looking for a more structured way to understand your market, this course will help you turn competitor information into focused and practical sales action.

  • Focus your sales effort on the accounts and opportunities that offer the greatest commercial value.   Hotel salespeople often manage many accounts, prospects and opportunities at the same time. Without clear priorities, it is easy to stay extremely busy without directing enough attention towards the business that will make the greatest difference. This course provides a structured, practical approach to managing your account portfolio and sales pipeline. You will learn how to assess the current value and future potential of an account, decide where to invest your time and identify when an account should be protected, developed, nurtured or deprioritised. You will also explore how to estimate share of wallet, uncover opportunities within existing accounts and create strategic account plans that turn customer knowledge into focused sales action. By the end of the course, you will have a clearer plan for retaining valuable customers, growing existing business and acquiring the right new accounts for your hotel.

  • In this course, you'll uncover the secrets to becoming a successful Sales Hunter, mastering client targeting, relationship building, and advanced prospecting techniques. Understand what a "Sales Hunter" is and their role in the team.  Understand the importance of targeting the right clients. Focus on identifying potential leads that align with your offerings. Learn effective relationship-building techniques. Cultivating strong connections can significantly enhance your sales success. Explore advanced prospecting techniques. Engage potential clients effectively and stay ahead in the competitive market. Master digital platforms for networking. Build meaningful relationships using tools like LinkedIn. Utilize AI tools effectively. Leverage platforms like ChatGPT to streamline tasks and improve preparation.. Ensure consistent follow-up and engagement with prospects. Apply the COAST framework. Structure AI prompts for relevant and useful responses. Get ready to transform your sales approach and unlock your full potential as a Sales Hunter!

  • Build a practical understanding of corporate, group and contracted hotel business. This course provides hotel sales and revenue professionals with an essential foundation in selling and managing business travel, group bookings and negotiated contracts. Participants will learn how different types of contracted business operate, how to sell effectively to corporate and group buyers and how commercial terms, concessions and displacement decisions affect hotel profitability.

  • Learn how to identify and grow hotel ancillary revenue through services, experiences, and value-added offerings beyond room bookings. This course provides practical strategies for upselling and applying revenue management principles to increase guest spend and overall profitability.

  • Strong communication is at the heart of successful hotel sales. It helps sales professionals build trust, understand customer needs, communicate value and ensure that promises made during the sales process are delivered by the hotel. This course develops the practical communication skills required to work effectively with customers, colleagues and operational teams. Participants will learn how to adapt their communication style to different audiences, situations and channels; build rapport and credibility; explain hotel solutions clearly; and manage challenging conversations professionally. The course also explores the importance of internal communication and effective handovers, helping participants reduce misunderstandings and create a consistent customer experience from the initial enquiry through to delivery.  

  • Give hotel sales professionals the information, tools, content and support they need to sell more effectively. Sales enablement ensures that sales teams can quickly access accurate, relevant and persuasive information at every stage of the sales process. When the right resources are easy to find and use, salespeople can respond faster, communicate more consistently and spend more time building customer relationships and winning business. This course introduces the principles of hotel sales enablement and provides practical guidance for creating a simple, effective enablement system. Participants will explore sales enablement best practices, learn how to develop useful Sales Battle Cards and discover how AI can support research, content creation, preparation and sales productivity.